It's almost impossible to breathe the name "Mary J. Blige" without coupling it with loaded phrases like "difficult diva" and "queen of hip-hop soul." But if you get past the prickly facade Blige often presents to the press... more &raquo--who can forget her infamous interview turned potential catfight with Veronica Webb?--it's the tag of royalty that counts. This collection of 23 tracks culled from various stops on her Share My World tour is the perfect sample of her highness's indisputable talent and a reminder that unlike many in her field, she is a powerhouse performer, not merely a studio puppet. The hits span her three studio albums, and while some cuts barely reach the two- minute mark, her renderings of favorites like "Real Love," "I'm Goin' Down," and "Mary Jane" more than make up for them. True to form, she also revives a couple of other classics--Aretha Franklin's "Daydreaming" and Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue." The Tour is both a great introduction for the uninitiated and an essential addition to the canon. --Rebecca Wallwork&laquo less

Synopsis

Amazon.com

It's almost impossible to breathe the name "Mary J. Blige" without coupling it with loaded phrases like "difficult diva" and "queen of hip-hop soul." But if you get past the prickly facade Blige often presents to the press--who can forget her infamous interview turned potential catfight with Veronica Webb?--it's the tag of royalty that counts. This collection of 23 tracks culled from various stops on her Share My World tour is the perfect sample of her highness's indisputable talent and a reminder that unlike many in her field, she is a powerhouse performer, not merely a studio puppet. The hits span her three studio albums, and while some cuts barely reach the two- minute mark, her renderings of favorites like "Real Love," "I'm Goin' Down," and "Mary Jane" more than make up for them. True to form, she also revives a couple of other classics--Aretha Franklin's "Daydreaming" and Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue." The Tour is both a great introduction for the uninitiated and an essential addition to the canon. --Rebecca Wallwork

CD Reviews

GOOD, BUT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER...

Knyte | New York, NY | 06/29/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Okay - I must justify the mediocre rating. Mary J Blige is a legend, and she will be for a long time. That's why I was so excited when I bought this CD. What is missing is that much of the material that made her a legend...that is, songs like "Real Love", "Reminisce" and "You Remind Me" are not here. Yes, they're listed as tracks, but she only does like one verse or less on these. Instead, you hear great songs like "Misty Blue", but they aren't what I bought the CD for...It isn't all bad though. She still does a stirring rendition of "Sweet Thing", and the best track on here (in my opinion) is "Missing You". It sounds so real, and that's what Mary is known for. I will give the CD this though: you do feel like you're at a live concert...in fact, it's a show in Los Angeles in late July/early August of 1997.There is some cursing on the album, but other than that, it's the best live recording she's done since MTV's "Uptown Unplugged", which will be a classic. (Remember Jodeci's "Lately"?) At any rate, don't expect too much, that way, you'll be impressed when you get it. I still own it, so that says something...so be warned.P.S. Her live version of ""Everything" is probably the second best on here...then there's "I'm Going Down"...so, it's like 3 stars. Pretty good! Peace and love,P.P.S. OKAY...What they should have done was to take her best performances and compiled them...it's okay to not have them from one live show. Personally, I would have loved to hear "I Don't Wanna Do Anything Else" on here...even if it was with Dave Hollister (Blackstreet circa 1994-1995)and not K-Ci Hailey...alright, I'm out.Basically, if you're not a die-hard Mary fan, you'll be satisfied. Knyte."

The Tour

Geminigirl | Philadelphia, PA United States | 06/07/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"When I read a few of the glowing reviews of this disc, I actually listened to my copy again to make sure there wasn't something wrong with my hearing but no...this is without a doubt one of the worst live discs I have in my collection. Mary sounds HORRIBLE, the production is poor and I definitely felt like I'd wasted my money on this. Now I know WHY I've only listened to it twice since I bought it.

I am a huge Mary J fan & have seen her perform live 4x since this disc was released and she has definitely stepped up her live performance game since this point in her career.

Sorry but I'd only recommend that her hard core fans take a chance on making this purchase."

Mary: Live

J. M. Zuurbier | Canada | 08/21/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Mary J Blige released this in 1998, finally a TOUR album, from her SHARE MY WORLD TOUR. While its a nice album, I felt slightly disapointed for one reason. I didn't like how the songs were cut short so they could fit the whole set list onto one CD. I would have gladly payed extra money for a double CD or something. But this gives you a general idea of who Mary is and what she sounds like live, if you're like me and you've never had the chance to experience her live in concert. She covers her whole career (to that point), from WHAT'S THE 411? to MY LIFE, from MY LIFE to SHARE MY WORLD, and a bit more. I really like "Daydreaming" and her rendition of "Misty Blue". From WHAT'S THE 411? we have "Real Love", "You Remind Me", "Love No Limit", "Reminisce", and "Sweet Thing" and more. From MY LIFE we have "Mary Jane", "My Life", "You Gotta Believe", "Mary's Joint", "I'm Goin Down" and "I'm The Only Woman". Then we have SHARE MY WORLD including the title track, "Thank You Lord (interlude)", "I Can Love You", "Everything", "Missing You", "Keep Your Head", "Seven Days", and also her hit "Not Gon Cry". Overall its a good album for the fans, almost flawless I just wish the songs weren't edited."

THE QUEEN

nubiandimples | 02/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have ALL of Mary's CD and this one is a wonderful collabation of all of her hits. She takes you from 'What's the 411' to 'Share My World' and she keeps it hype through out. I went to this concert when she came to Nashville and she is really L-I-V-E for real. As on the album she gets the crowd into it to. To the person in Greensville,SC apparently you have never heard a tour album or been to a real concert, THEY NOT SUPPOSE TO DO 5 to 7 minute tracks or it would go on forever. I guess ya'll don't have concerts in your little town. But anyways Mary you are the undisbuted queen of hiphop so there is gonna be some haters. You Go Girl!"

To much hype-man (drop the mike-man)

nupebrian@hotmail.com | Carrollton, TX | 07/14/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I love Mary. Her voice is unique and I have all her CD's. But this hype-man (or "drop the mike-man") is very annoying. If she got rid of him the CD would be so much better."